GENESEE COUNTY, MI -- Check out the candidates' family trees in this 48th District state House race, and you'll find two of them have political roots.

Democrats Pam Faris and Patrick "Shorty" Gleason are battling it out in the Democratic primary for the chance to replace state House Minority Leader Richard Hammel, D-Mt. Morris Twp., who can't run for re-election because of term limits.

Faris, wife of former Lt. Gov. John D. Cherry Jr., and Gleason, county commissioner and cousin of state Sen. John Gleason, are also joined by political newcomer Stephen Kennedy, an attorney running a grassroots campaign that isn't soliciting donations.

The 48th District boundaries changed after the 2010 Census to include
many northern and eastern Genesee County communities. It now comprises
the cities of Montrose, Clio and Davison as well as the townships of
Montrose, Vienna, Thetford, Forest, Genesee, Richfield and Davison.

In this district, which is 61 percent Democrat, the winner of the Aug. 7 primary election is the likely victor of the November general election, said Bill Ballenger, editor of Inside Michigan Politics newsletter.

Jeffrey Woolman is running as a Republican for the seat.

Among the Democrats, Gleason has the fundraising edge, having received more than twice the campaign funds that Faris, a Mott Community College trustee, has received in the weeks before the primary, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

Gleason pulled in nearly $71,000 while Faris received about $30,000 in donations as of July 22, the end of the pre-primary campaign finance reporting period.

Both candidates are heavily supported by labor unions.

Faris' largest contributor was the UAW Political Action Committee, which gave her $5,000. Faris worked for General Motors at Fisher Body after graduating from Powers Catholic High School in Flint.

"I have great support among the organizations that have endorsed me," she said of the contributions.

Gleason, of Richfield Township, received $5,000 each from PACs representing the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, ironworkers, boilermakers and carpenters unions, according to finance records.

"I think it says a lot about my past," said Gleason, a retired ironworker and former president of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council. "I have the ability to work with not only corporations but also
management and labor."

Kennedy, a Thetford Township attorney in private practice, said he hasn't accepted any political contributions. Instead, friends are helping him spread the word of his campaign and Kennedy is knocking on doors.

He said he entered the race to give people a choice of someone who has no political ties.

"You get career political families doing the same thing over and over and over," he said. "I guess we'll see in a week what happens. We'll see if people really want change."

A list of Faris' priorities, if elected, include early childhood education, restoring some of the state revenue sharing payments to local communities and repealing the tax on retirement income.

Faris, who retired in 2003 as a jury coordinator for Genesee County, proposes funding her priorities by bringing back some form of the Michigan Business Tax that was cut by Gov. Rick Snyder's administration.

"With everything the governor and this Legislature have passed, there's always a tit for tat -- but this tax cut (for businesses) wasn't that way," said Faris, of Vienna Township. "No one had to jump through hoops or provide an additional job. That's wrong."

Faris said she would also be a strong advocate for veterans services. Michigan is dead last in the nation for drawing down veterans funds for Michigan veterans.

"They have a high unemployment rate and less and less support," she said. "I want to make sure we're drawing down the benefits that
should rightly come to Michigan veterans for health, housing, education and psychological
help."

Gleason said he also is in favor of repealing the pension tax, but knows that's likely an uphill battle with a Republican governor and GOP-controlled Legislature. In the alternative, he said he would proposed allocating the revenue from the tax to local governments and school districts.

"You need to preserve the revenue sharing funds coming back
to local units of government," he said. "Those funds pay for
police, fire and the local roadwork in these townships and cities."

If elected, Gleason said he would be a strong advocate for the Karegnondi Water Authority, which is proposing to build a water pipeline to Genesee County from Lake Huron to break local dependence on the Detroit water system.

"That will be the biggest driving force in our communities
for economic development," he said of the pipeline. "The state rep, whoever it may be, should capitalize on that
system for jobs."

Kennedy said he wants to cut state legislators pay and benefits and redirect the savings toward funding public education in Michigan.

"This is entirely too much compensation for a
part-time job in a state with one of the worst economies," he said of lawmakers' salaries. "This leads to our elected persons trying to
legitimize their existence through sponsoring legislation that panders to
certain special interests on the far left or far right."

Kennedy is also an advocate of revamping the state's no-fault automobile insurance laws to make the 20 percent of drivers who are uninsured more accountable.

Kennedy has never held elected office. He said his 24 years of experience representing people as an attorney makes him qualified to represent people in Lansing.

"The people have to have an advocate," he said. "I do nothing but work for a living and I've represented people."